Updated
Melbourne is expected to sweat through its hottest day in almost a decade today, before a mid-afternoon cool change sends the mercury plummeting.
Key points:
- Temperatures in the mid-to-high 40s are expected in the state’s north
- Authorities are warning that bushfires “will be uncontrollable” and the community must be prepared
- The energy market operator says it is confident power supplies will be sufficient
After an oppressive night in which temperatures did not drop below 25 degrees Celsius in the city, Melburnians can expect a top today of 44C.
If that happens, it will be Melbourne’s hottest day since Black Saturday — February 7, 2009 — when it reached 46.4C.
The Bureau of Meteorology’s state manager for Victoria, Andrew Tupper, warned the humidity would make it feel even hotter, and urged people to heed the advice of health and emergency services.
“It’s not like a regular day,” Dr Tupper said.
“This summer is not just a normal summer.”
“Understand that heat is a killer … that needs to make a difference in the way we behave.”
The temperature had already risen above 33C in the city by 6:00am.
A mass of hot air that had been building over central Australia yesterday brought record temperatures to South Australia, where Adelaide hit a sweltering 46.6C, surpassing Melbourne’s Black Saturday record for the highest temperature in an Australian capital city.
As that mass moves across Victoria today, the bureau is predicting it could send records tumbling in north-eastern Victoria.
In the state’s north-west, temperatures are expected to reach 47C in Mildura and Ouyen, and 46 in Swan Hill and Kerang.
The mercury is tipped to reach 46C in Shepparton and Echuca in the state’s north.
‘We’re not expecting blackouts’: AEMO
The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) said it was confident there would be sufficient power supply today after it called in emergency reserves yesterday afternoon to get through the period of peak demand.
Temporary diesel-powered generators in South Australia were switched on for the first time to provide additional capacity, and Alcoa’s aluminium smelter in Portland in western Victoria was ordered to reduce production between 7:10pm and 8:50pm.
Separately — and unrelated to AEMO’s load shedding directions —various local outages throughout the state left more than 5,000 households without power for part of last night, while a fault with an underground line left about 2,700 houses without power in central Victoria yesterday.
AEMO chief executive Aubrey Zibelman said the forecast cool change, which is expected to reach Melbourne at about 3:00pm, should reduce the risk of Victorians facing a power shortage.
“We’re not expecting blackouts. We’re not yet expecting to call our reserves,” she said.
The cool change is forecast to cause the temperature in Melbourne to drop dramatically, by as much as 15C in as few as 15 minutes.
But while the change will reach the state’s south-west in the morning and move across the state over the course of the day, some parts of north-eastern Victoria will not get relief until early Saturday morning.
Strong northerly winds ahead of the change, and gusty southerly winds following the change will also bring elevated fire risk.
‘Fires will be uncontrollable’
Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp warned that the extreme weather means that any fires sparked today “will be uncontrollable”.
“They will be fast moving … I believe we’re well and truly ready as a sector. The questions is, members of the public, are you ready?”
He said 500 emergency management staff were in place across the state, and 60 planes and helicopters were poised to tackle fires.
Commissioner Crisp urged people not to leave children in locked cars in the heat and to download the Vic Emergency phone app in order to stay informed.
A total fire ban is in place across the entire state today, with the fire danger rated extreme for the North Central, Northern Country and Mallee districts.
The rating is severe for the Wimmera, South West, Central and West & South Gippsland regions, and very high in the East Gippsland and North East districts.
“Friday’s a horrible day with a late change, with wind, with a landscape that’s been baking for a number of weeks now,” CFA operations manager Paul King said.
“We expect that we’re going to have really difficult fire danger.”
Firefighters urged residents to be mindful of the potentially dangerous fire conditions and avoid activities like angle grinding and slashing.
Fears for visiting campers
Authorities were also concerned careless visitors over the Australia Day long weekend could put extra pressure on fire crews, with concerns around campfires and fireworks.
“We’ve really hit a critical point in the bushfire season,” Aaron Kennedy, the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning’s assistant chief fire officer for the Hume Region, said.
“So we’re really asking people to be vigilant, particularly if they’re in our forests or on the river this Australia Day weekend.
“Any fire that starts, we’re seeing it’s going to be difficult to control.”
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